Nanaimo neighbours clear bushes, garbage in effort to deal with problem house
Frustrated Nanaimo residents are demonstrating, collecting garbage and cutting down bushes on an empty lot in a ongoing battle against unsavoury activity linked to a neighbourhood house on Milton Street.
They complain of drug deals and drug use, threats, speeding and loud vehicles, property damage, yelling and screaming, used needles on the ground, and prostitution in an on-site recreational vehicle.
A year ago children felt safe playing on the street. That isn’t the case anymore, residents say. Some youngsters don’t sleep in their own rooms but in their parents room where it is deemed to be safer.
On Sunday, residents with signs demonstrated at the alley behind Milton Street and more were on the street to raise attention to their continuing concerns, which have continued since mid-March, Natalie Cunliffe, a Milton Street resident, said Monday.
Nanaimo RCMP searched the house in June, arresting two people who were charged with possession for the purposes of trafficking. Police found crystal methamphetamine, a small amount of what they suspected was fentanyl, drug paraphernalia and $2,500 in cash.
Last month, Nanaimo council voted unanimously to designate 560 Milton St. a nuisance property. A $250 fine is imposed whenever government officials such as bylaw and police officers are called to the site. The house is in Nob Hill area, on the south side of Nanamo.
After the long-term owner and resident of the Milton Street house died, the ownership and probate were left in control of his brother who lives in Gibsons, Dave LeBerge, Nanaimo’s bylaw services manager, told council. The deceased owner’s roommate was permitted to remain.
But the house was taken over by the street drug culture, turning into a “tremendously busy drug house,” LeBerge said. The city and RCMP received close to 30 complaints from about 15 residences and businesses, he said.
Cunliffe said, “Every day, every hour it impacts us and it has escalated.”
Residents are not sleeping and feel unsafe, she said.
An overgrown vacant property close by is used by people who frequent the house, she said.
People use drugs there, sleep in dugouts and defecate there. “You can imagine the stench,” Cunliffe said.
Two four-hour-long work parties have cut down trees and cleared undergrowth. They use rented power tools and filled in dugouts to remove cover and make the site more open, she said.
A total of 700 pounds of rubbish was removed from the vacant property, she said.
Workers wore heavy boots and thick gloves for protection, Cunliffe said. “We found so many needles. It was amazing.” They were taken to a needle exchange site.
Paul Saroya, who is building a hotel in Nanaimo, owns the vacant lot and said he is a victim of the problems at that property as well.
A development permit application has been submitted to the city for a mixed use rental-commercial project on the site and an adjacent lot. If approved, work could start on the property within two months, he said.
Andrew Homzy, of nearby Hecate Street, is calling on elected officials from all levels of government to take action, saying the people at the drug house are able to run their business with impunity. “It’s a ridiculous situation.” The problem with the 110-year-old house may resolve itself because the property is for sale at $295,999. The threebedroom house is on a 5,049 square foot lot.
Real estate agent Fraser Carmichael said there has been interest in the property. The property permits a carriage home in the back.